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I shot this in Manhattan with a Tamron 18-270 VC lens. The VC stands for Vibration Compensation, Tamron's name for "image stabilization." Because the lens reaches the equivalent of 405mm on my Nikon D90, the VC is a very important asset. It allows me to shoot handheld at shutter speeds that would otherwise deliver blurry pictures. I know, because I discovered my personal SBA, or "Shake Begins At" values and wrote about it all in the April issue of Shutterbug:

However, I must admit that another feature—the whopping 15X zoom range—is a very compelling reason to reach for this lens when I am out and about with my family.

The flexibility of a 15X zoom means more than merely bringing subjects closer. The greatest value of a long zoom comes in the form of significantly expanded composition possibilities. It's literally the antithesis of a fixed focal length lens. Zooming allows you to find the exact composition you're after. Because the zoom covers from about 28mm to 400mm (depending on the camera's lens multiplier) you're certain to find the magic angle-of-view before you run out of zoom.

The full name of this lens is Tamron AF18~270mm f3.5~6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro and it provides an awful lot of versatility in a compact package.